Reversible seat back and armrest structure



March 20, 1951 R. EDWARDS REVERSIBLE SEAT BACK AND ARMREST STRUCTURE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15, 1949 #01 a w 1 ,9 I 1 o w 1 u) w L a 1 pINVENTOR. 4 ,464 M ziwM. ZYM *7,

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March 20, 1951 R. L. EDWARDS 2,545,608

REVERSIBLE SEAT BACK AND ARMREST STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 15, 1949 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I I 7 I I 25 /2- 26 24 /8 WW" I' 28 INVENTOR. w ,2? M.

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Patented Mar. 20, 1951 7 REVERSIBLE SEAT BACK AND ARMREST STRUCTURERobert Louis Edwards, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to S. Karpen & Bros,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 15, 1949,Serial No. 71,036

This inventionrelates to a reversible seat back and arm rest structureand is particularly useful for railway cars, tram cars, buses, andsimilar types of transportation vehicles.

An object of the invention is to provide a seat structure with improvedmeans for supporting thereon a movable back and arm rest or arm restswhereby in the swinging of the back, the arm rest will be moved from onetilted position in which the seat faces one way to a tilted position inthe opposite direction when the seat faces in the opposite direction.Yet another object is to provide a structure in which a seat rest ismoved to a tilted position with the outer end raised when the seat backis moved to one extreme of its movement while-providing means forshifting the arm rest to an inclination in the opposite direction whenthe seat back is moved to the opposite side of the seat. Other objectsand advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated in a single embodiment, by the accompanyingdrawings, in which-- Fig. 1 is a broken side view in elevation ofapparatus embodyin my invention, a portion of the structure being shownin section; Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1 with the arm rest shown inelevated central position; Fig. 3, a View similar to Fig. 1 but showingthe arm rest moved'to the opposite end of the seat, the seat back havingbeen reversed; and Fig. 4, a detail sectional view, the section beingtaken as indicated at line 4 of Fig. 3. 7 7

' In the illustration given, In designates a portion of a base structureupon which is mounted a cushion seat Mounted upon the base It are twovertical standards l2 which extend laterally of the seat and which areconnected at their tops by an angle cross bar l3. The cross bar I3 isprovided along its lower edge with a flange l4 extending at right anglesto the main body of the bar.

Pivotally mounted upon the cross bar l3 are the links I5 and I6, each ofthe links being provided on one side with a laterally extending flangeIT. The flange I1 is adapted to engage the lower flange M of cross bar[3 to provide a stop when the links l5 and i6 are swung to loweredpositions. g

A hollow arm rest I8 of inverted U-shape, as illustrated best in Fig. 4,is supported upon 7 Claims. (01. 155 101) the pivotally mounted links l5and I6. Link l5 is connected by pivot pin IE to a wall of the thepreferred structure, I arrange the links l5 and It so that they extendin an angle away from the parallel position so that the arm rest l8 willoccupy a tilted position in either extreme of its movement, asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

A seat back 2| is pivotally mounted upon the base In for swingingmovement first to one side of the seat II and then to the other as'inthe usual railway seat construction. The seat back is pivotally mountedupon a pivot 30 which is well below the top of the seat H. In order tocause the arm rest to move from the one angular position shown in Fig. 1to the angular position shown in Fig. 3, and vice versa, I equip avertical part 22 of the frame H] with a, U-shaped strap 23, asillustrated best in Fig. 4. The strap 23 extends outwardly from theframe part 22 and is connected by means of a pivot pin 24 with anactuating link 25. The actuating link 25 is provided with a slot 26through which extends a pivot pin 2?. The pivot pin 21 is secured withina side wall of the arm rest I 8 and the pin is provided with a head 28,this structure being shown best in Fig. 4. The upper portion of the seatback 2| may be provided with the usual cushion 29. It will be understoodthat the arm rest l8 and the supporting means therefor may be placed ononly one side of the seat H or, if desired, on both sides.

Operation In the operation of the apparatus, the. seat back 2| is swungfrom a position along one side of the seat to a position on the otherside of the seat, causing a tilting of the arm rest in the oppositedirections shown in Figs. 1 and 3. In the starting position shown inFig. 1, the arm rest It is held'in an upwardly tilted or inclinedposition, the lower flange ll of link l5 abutting the flange M of crossbar l3. The pin 21 carried by the arm rest l8 lies at the outer extremeposition of the slot 25 of link 25. As the seat back 2| is swung tovertical position, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the pin 21 occupies aposition at the bottom of slot 26 while the link members I5 and I6 causethe arm rest to move to raised position.

Continued movement of the back 2| brings it to the reversed positionshown in Fig. 3. In this position, the link 25 is substantiallyhorizontal and the pin 21 occupies a position in the extreme outer endof slot 26. The lower flange ll of link It engages the flange I4 ofcross bar l3 and supports the arm rest I 8 in the tilted position shown.By havin the links l5 and I6 secured to the outer wall of the U-shapedarm rest l8 and the link 25 secured to the inner wall, a strong bracedstructure is obtained and it will be noted in Fig. 4 that the cross bar[3 which supports the links [5 and I6 extends centrally within the crossarm [8.

The new structure with its few parts provides a sturdy support for thearm rest I8 While efiectively moving it from an inclined position on oneside of the seat to an inclined position on the other side when the seatback is reversed.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a specificstructure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating oneembodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details ofstructure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a reversible seat back and arm rest structure, a base, a seatthereon, angularly related links pivotally carried by said base, an armrest pivotally mounted upon said links, a seat back pivotally mountedupon said base and swingable to opposite sides of said seat, and linkmeans connecting-said back to said arm rest for moving said arm restlongitudinally as said back is moved.

2. In a reversible seat back and arm rest structure, a base, a seatthereon. angularly related :links pivotally carried by said base, an armrest pivotally mounted upon said links, a seat back pivotaly mountedupon said base and swingable to opposite sides of saidseat, andlinkmeans connecting said back to said arm rest for moving said arm restlongitudinally as said back is moved, saidangularly related links havingtheir upper endportions occupying diverging positions.

1' .3. In a reversible seat back and arm rest structure, a base, a seatthereon, a standard mounted on said base, link means pivotally mountedupon said standard, an arm rest pivotally supported upon said linkmeans, a seat back pivotally 4. In a seat structure, a base, a seatmounted thereon, angularly related links carried by said ibasegan armrest pivotall mounted upon said links, means on said base cooperatingwith said links for tiltably supporting said arm rest at each"extreme'of its movement, a seat back pivotally mounted upon said baseand swingable to opposite sides of said'seat, and means including aslotted link and pin connectin said back to said 4 arm rest for movingsaid arm rest longitudinally as said back is moved.

5. In a reversible seat back and arm rest structure, a base, a standardmounted upon said base,

a cross bar carried by said standard and equipped With a flange, a pairof links pivotally mounted upon said cross bar, each of the links beingequipped with a flange adapted to engage the flange of said cross bar tosupport the arm rest in a tilted position when said arm rest is moved toeither limit ofits movement, a seat back pivotally mounted upon saidbase and swingable to opposite sides of said seat, and link meansconnecting said back to said arm rest for moving said arm restlongitudinally as said back is moved.

6. In a reversible seat back and arm rest structure, a base, aseatthereon, a standard extending Vertically from said base, a cross barmounted thereon and equipped with a flange, a pair of links pivotallymounted upon each end of said cross bar and equipped with laterallyextending flanges adapted to engage .the flange ofsaid cross bar, an armrest of inverted U cross section, said links having their outer endspivotally secured to an interior wall of said arm rest, a U-shaped strapfixed to said base and extendin inwardly of said arm rest below thebottom edge thereof, a link pivotally secured to the outer end of saidstrap and having its opposite end slotted, and a pin extending throughsaid slot and secured to an inner wall of said arm rest.

'7. In a reversible seat back and arm rest structure, a base, a seatthereon, a horizontal support member carried by said seat, apair oflinks at the opposite endsof said support member and cocupying divergingpositions, an arm rest piviotally mounted to said diverging links, aseat back pivotally mounted upon said base and swingable to oppositesides of said seat, a link member pivotally secured at one end to saidbase and .at its other end to said arm rest, said latter connectionconsisting of a pin extending through a slot in said link.

ROBERT LOUIS EDWARDS.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Name Date 566,675 Forney Aug. .25, 18961,059,246 Wheatley Apr. 15, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date I16,216 Great Britain 1906 18,309 Great Britain 1906

